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[Reprinted  from  the  Psychological  Bulletin,  Dec,  191 7,  Vol.  XIV.  No   12  } 


REPORT    OF     COMMITTEE     ON    REEDUCATION     RE- 
SEARCH 

Following  is  a  report  of  the  efforts  of  the  Committee  on  Re- 
education of  the  American  Psychological  Association,  and  of  the 
similar  Sub-Committee  of  the  Psychology  Committee  of  the  Na- 
tional Research  Council.  The  report  is  published,  in  accordance 
with  the  custom  of  other  similar  committees  and  sub-committees, 
to  show  the  progress  that  has  been  made  up  to  the  present  time. 

Immediately  after  the  publication  of  the  report  of  the  Con- 
ference on  Reeducation  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  General 
Medical  Board  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense  (see  the  Bulletin, 
1917,  14,  229),  much  general  and  special  medical  and  other  scientific 
interest  was  manifested  throughout  the  country.  Inquiries  re- 
garding various  aspects  of  the  problems  were  received  from  indi- 
viduals, from  representatives  of  local  and  national  organizations, 
and  from  teachers.  Definite  questions  were  answered  as  well  as 
the  chairman  could,  and  suggestions  were  made  when  requested. 
Much  of  this  interest  could  be  called  sporadic,  or  scattered,  there 
being  apparent  no  inclination  to  look  at  the  whole,  but  rather  local 
or  individual  problems  and  needs  to  be  suggested  or  solved. 

Requests  for  suggestions  regarding  investigations  were,  however, 
made  by  three  individuals  representing  national  and  general 
aspects  of  the  work:  by  Major  Edgar  King,  M.C.,  U.S.A.,  for  the 
Office  of  the  Surgeon  General  of  the  Army;  by  Mr.  Charles  H. 
Winslow,  Assistant  Director  in  charge  of  Research  of  the  Federal 
Board  for  Vocational  Education,  for  that  Board;  and  by  Dr. 
Stewart  Paton,  of  the  War  Work  Committee  of  the  National  Com- 
mittee for  Alental  Hygiene,  for  that  Committee. 

Memoranda  were  prepared  and  sent  for  the  purpose  to  each  of 
these  with  the  following  results.  Dr.  Paton  acknowledged  the  re- 
ceipt of  the  memoranda  (dated  September  20),  reporting  that  he  had 
referred  them  to  Major  Pearce  Bailey,  M.R.C.,  U.S.A.,  the  chair- 
man of  the  War  Work  Committee.  No  action  has  been  reported 
to  date  by  Major  Bailey.  The  memoranda  (dated  September  18) 
written  for  Mr.  Winslow  were  acknowledged,  but  information  of 
further  action  has  not  been  received.  Major  King,  to  whom  the 
memoranda  were  given  on  September  17,  requested  more  definite 
information  and  suggestions,  which  were  furnished  in  subsequent 
memoranda.  The  further  progress  in  this  direction  will  be  noted 
below. 


i2486;3 


417  REPORT 

All  three  memoranda  were  in  the  main  alike,  but  differing  in 
slight  details  on  account  of  the  special  interests  involved.  They 
pointed  out  the  necessity  for  the  investigation  of  certain  problems 
of  reeducation,  with  special  reference  to  those  matters  which  may 
be  called  "functional  restoration"  or  "functional  adaptation." 
They  suggested  that  investigations  in  these  lines,  at  least  from  the 
medical  aspect,  were  to  be  considered  on  a  par  with  investigations 
of  pathogenic  bacteria,  curative  sera,  and  the  like.  From  the  edu- 
cational side  it  was  suggested  that  certain  methods  be  investigated 
in  order  to  discover  those  giving  the  best  results  with  adults  having 
different  maiming  conditions.  Such  investigations,  it  was  pointed 
out,  are  necessary  in  order  "to  save  time,  to  reduce  expense,  and  to 
bring  about  the  best  results"  in  functional  recovery  of  the  maimed 
and  crippled. 

The  investigations  most  urgently  needed  are  those  which  are 
planned  to  discover  methods  to  better  (if  possible)  the  following 
conditions:  (i)  those  disabling  accidents  which  at  present  are  con- 
sidered to  be  incurable  or  for  which  no  functional  adaptation  is 
recognized,  and  (2)  the  most  frequently  encountered  accidents 
which  are  now  dealt  with  in  a  way,  but  for  whose  betterment  it  is 
recognized  that  methods  of  improved  technique  should  or  may  be 
devised.  Investigations  of  these  kinds,  it  was  suggested,  could 
very  well  be  prosecuted  in  this  country  with  cases  of  industrial 
accidents,  which  resemble  closely  those  of  war,  and  many  cases  of 
these  industrial  accidents  would  be  available  for  study  in  such  large 
commercial  and  industrial  centers  as  Boston,  Chicago,  and  New 
York.  It  was  also  pointed  out  that  in  the  published  reports  from 
England  and  France  which  were  examined  the  fact  had  frequently 
been  deplored  that  time  or  men  had  not  been  available  for  the 
investigations  of  methods,  and  it  was  suggested  that  investigations 
in  this  country  should  be  inaugurated  immediately  in  order  that 
our  maimed  and  crippled  soldiers  might  have  the  benefit  of  any 
improvement  in  technique  or  of  newly  devised  therapeutic  measures. 
The  inauguration  of  such  investigations  in  this  country,  and  pro- 
vision for  their  temporary  prosecution,  it  was  pointed  out,  w^uld  be 
advantageous  in  other  directions,  in  that  the  work  could  Ite  done 
by  civilians.  The  preliminary  investigations  would  als»  permit 
the  determination  and  selection  of  the  more  capable  men  for  further 
work,  and  nearer  the  firing  line,  if  the  continuation  of  the  investi- 
gations was  considered  to  be  desirable. 

On  September  19,  in  conversation,  Major  King  suggested  that 


REPORT  4^8 

any  investigations  should  be  conducted  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
Office  of  the  Surgeon  General,  and  that  the  work  should  be  planned 
to  be  started  in  Washington,  either  at  the  Walter  Reed  General 
Hospital  of  the  Army,  or  at  the  Government  Hospital  for  the  Insane 
where  certain  facilities  for  the  conduct  of  the  work  were  immediately 
available.  He  requested  that  additional  memoranda  be  submitted 
to  him  in  which  detailed  information  be  given  of  a  few  problems,  of 
cost,  and  the  like.     This  was  done  September  24,  1917. 

Three  problems  were  suggested:  a  comparative  study  of  the 
paralyses,  with  reference  to  the  effects  of  different  procedures;  a 
consideration  of  the  anesthesias  which  at  present  are  practically 
entirely  neglected  as  far  as  treatment  is  concerned;  and  methods  of 
bringing  about  new  coordinations  in  amputated  cases.      The  labo- 
ratory of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  was  reported  as  available, 
but  it  was  pointed  out  that  Washington  is  not  an  industrial  center  and 
that  until  Army  casualties  were  received  in  large  numbers  it  might 
not  be  possible  to  make  as  good  a  selection  of  cases  as  would  be 
desirable.     This  suggestion  was  also  made  as  an  item  of  expense 
'^      since  being  already  in  Government  work  the  chairman  could  devote 
^K^      time  to  such  investigations  without  the  necessity  for  special  em- 
ployment  by   the   War   Department.     Three   full-time   and   paid 
workers  were  suggested  with  the  addition  of  an  assistant  and  a 
clerk,  such  workers  to  be  employed  by  the  War  Department  In 
;       order  that  their  full  time  should  be  devoted  to  the  work.     The 
Su       time  to  be  devoted  to  the  investigations  in  the  preliminary  period 
^       was  set  at  four  months,  this  amount  of  time  being  considered  to  be 
I       necessary  on  account  of  the  long  processes  Involved. 

In  a  letter  dated  November  12,  1917,  in  answer  to  a  request  for 

any  information  regarding  the  decision  of  the  Surgeon  General 

\        regarding  the  matter,  Major  King  wrote  that  the  memoranda  "will 

^^^   receive  attention  and  that  it  is  the  intention  of  the  Surgeon  General 

^        to  make  whatever  investigations  along  the  lines  suggested  by  you 

as  found  to  be  possible.     Up  to  the  present  time  the  matter  has 

continued  to  be  In  a  formative  stage." 

Shepherd  Ivory  Franz,  Chairman. 
Government  Hospital  for  the  Insane 


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